Never Tell Her
by VainJackdaw
Summary: They both have a secret. One they can't tell the other. Established RootxShaw. Two-parter. Mostly fluff, mild language. Mildly AU.
1. Part one: Root

_**Okiedokie, two-parter this time, an adorable little thing I decided I wanted to write to cope with If-then-else x]**_

* * *

**Root.**

Shaw wasn't awake yet, she could tell without even opening her eyes. It wasn't the sound of the woman's slow and steady breath, it wasn't that fact she was still in bed and not already halfway through making herself breakfast.

It was the arm draped over her waist and the warm body pressed against her back.

She could never tell her it happened; the mention alone would cause Shaw to lapse into silence for over a month. So Root kept it to herself, simply allowing herself to enjoy the comfort of it while she could until she had to slip out of bed before Shaw could wake up and find out.

She was away a lot, on her own private missions for the machine, so she rarely got a chance to stop by and see her dear Sameen and even fewer were the times when she could actually stay the night. When she could though, almost every morning, she would wake up to find Shaw cuddling her in her sleep. Even she cringed slightly at the thought that they were the kind of people who 'cuddled' but there was really no other word for it, aside from maybe spooning, but this position suggested Shaw was the 'big spoon' and that was just odd, given the woman's size. She smirked to herself at that thought, imagining the glare that would be shot her way for the height joke.

They would go to sleep facing away from each other, a rule Shaw enforced with glares that suggested a silent threat of eviction to the floor if Root should try to sleep too close to her. However, here they were again.

It wasn't an accident, no-one could wrap that perfectly around another person by accident; she'd even tucked her free arm under the pillow beneath Root's head so that it wasn't cramped up between them.

Shaw's subconscious was really very sweet.

The woman claimed to have no feelings, but that, in all honesty, was never exactly true. They were there, somewhere, like a whisper in a loud room. Shaw could hear it if she really tried, but she didn't often acknowledge that there was anything to listen for, so she never tried very hard.

Her subconscious clearly heard it though, and that was enough for Root. Waking up with Shaw wrapped around her, almost possessively, as though she was trying to make sure she couldn't leave in the morning, was rapidly becoming her favourite thing. She wasn't sure she'd fully admit it to herself, let alone mention it to Sam, but the gentle tickle of the woman's breath on the back of her neck and the strong arm pulling her back against an, almost too warm, body behind her was almost enough to make her wish she didn't have to leave.

But The Machine didn't sleep. She knew Root had to, so She let her get some rest, but as soon as she was recovered from whatever exhausting mission she'd just returned from, the AI had another ready and waiting.

This morning was no different.

Before she'd even opened her eyes there it was, the ever present voice in her ear telling her a place she needed to be, and right now, that place was out of here. Within the next ten minutes, in fact.

Carefully, she lifted Shaw's arm just enough so that she could slip out from under it, moving as silently as she could to avoid waking her. It would appear she was successful, with a sleepy growl of annoyance Shaw buried herself deeper under the covers, apparently stirred by the light now assaulting her face without Root's head in the way to stop the worst of it.

Quickly, Root moved to the curtains and drew them, partially to stop Shaw from waking up and partially because they were only on the second floor and she was not wearing anything.

After hunting down her clothes and taming her hair, she was ready to go, sitting down on the edge of the bed to zip up her boots before turning to look at the sleeping woman. She _could_ wake her up and say goodbye. She maybe even_ should_, but neither of them ever did, even on that one occasion where Shaw had woken before her.

It was one of those unspoken rules they shared.

Then again, Shaw broke rules too.

Gently, she leant down, hovering barely millimetres from the other woman's ear.  
"Goodbye, Sam." It was barely even a whisper, and almost certainly not heard by the sleeping woman, but she couldn't help but smile as she pressed her lips to Shaw's temple, pausing only for a moment before standing and turning on her heel.

She had no idea when she'd be back here; it could be anything from a day to a couple of months (at worst). She often hoped The Machine would instruct her to seek Shaw out for help on a particular task, but that was rare these days. Mostly she had to move below the radar and, well, Shaw was less of a 'knife in the shadows' and more of a 'flash grenade to the face'. She smiled to herself at the thought as she reached the front door and paused to enjoy it for a second before sighing. With a shake of her head she wiped away her smile and let out a long breath.

It was time to go.

As she stepped over the threshold she was the Analogue Interface again, thinking about Shaw was not a distraction she could afford if she wanted to make it back here alive and see her again.

* * *

_**Part two already up ;) aren't I nice? x]**_


	2. Part Two: Shaw

_**Part two! :) No need for long introductions, enjoy ^_^**_

* * *

**Shaw.**

She waited until the sound of the door closing announced Roots departure before allowing her eyes to open, rolling onto her back and resisting the bizarre urge to raise a hand to the spot where the woman's lips had touched.

For fuck's sake.

This was getting out of hand.

_"Hey, sweetie." Root's voice made her jump and she spun around to find the infuriating woman sat on the edge of her, apparently now unlocked, window. After lowering her gun, she growled.  
"Damn it Root. Use the door." _

Leave it to Root to find a way to make her almost pleased to see her, while at the same time, want to push her backward out of the window.

She wondered idly when she'd be back this time. This last trip had been short, only a week, but the one before it had been over a month.

To be clear, she would never call what they were a relationship. Exclusive fucking did not count as dating, and that was the way they _both_ liked it. Shaw, for her part, had been somewhat stubborn regarding the 'exclusive' part. But if Tomas taught her anything, it was how not to flirt, but also that Root got jealous, very easily, and that the idea of sleeping with someone other than the infuriating hacker just didn't have the same appeal anymore.

Root had feelings for her, dangerous ones Shaw didn't like to put names to. It was those that made her come back, every time she had even a few hours break in the area, she came and found her. It was concerning, and she had done all she could to discourage these 'feelings', but at the same time, she felt a disturbing twinge in her stomach whenever she did something that she knew Root would interoperate as a sign she didn't care.

As best she could figure, it was probably guilt since, overall, she would say she cared about the woman- Well; at least she was _protective_ of her. If she got herself killed Shaw would hunt whoever did it to the ends of the earth and make them pay.

In a strange way though, it felt more than that.

She didn't like to think about it, it gave her a headache trying to work out whatever it was this pain in her ass made her 'feel', and an even bigger one when she tried to work out why she was feeling anything at all. So she gave up, and generally went with her gut when it came to decisions about Root.

She could never tell her she did it on purpose; the mention alone would have the woman grinning from ear to ear and making ridiculous comments for over a month. So Shaw kept it a secret, simply pretending to be asleep when the hacker woke up in the mornings so that Root could slip out without them having to discuss why she did it. They had a strict rule after all; they would sleep facing away from each other, no 'cuddling'.

They were not a chick-flick cliché.

Somewhere in her gut though, she knew Root hated this rule.

The woman wasn't like her, she was…_ emotional_, and Shaw knew for a fact that she held back a lot more than she showed to keep from pushing her too far, probably afraid she would run for the hills.

Root gave her space, pissed her off at every opportunity but she didn't try to force her to express her '_feelings_'.

So, she tried.

She debated asking Reese for advice but that idea quickly went out the window. Then, a few visits back, she caught the disappointment in the other woman's eyes as she rolled away from her to go to sleep.

It wasn't a particularly special day; Root had come back after roughly a month, sauntered in while she was at work and pestered her at the makeup counter just as she was supposed to be clocking off for the day. They'd gone to a takeaway to get dinner than back to her place. Dinner had needed reheating by the time they got to it and they may have worked off the calories afterwards as well, but that wasn't unusual after such a long gap. It was all normal, for them at least. But the briefest flash of disappointment as she moved away kept her awake for hours after Root had drifted off to sleep.

She hadn't known what kept her awake, the disappointment, or the fact she was bothered by it, but she knew then that she had to do _something_. Give _something_ back to the damn woman. So she did the only thing she could bare to. It wasn't so bad, sleeping with Root against her. Her apartment was often too cold and having the hacker's warmth so close helped to negate the cold air around them.

It was okay this way.

Root didn't mention it to her, and Shaw was happy to let her think she was unaware that she did it. But the message it gave off was still clear enough, she guessed.

She did give a damn, more than she should if you asked her, but she still did.

She didn't need to tell her. Root knew.

* * *

_**Just realised I haven't added a disclaimer to this thing, sorry about that, I do not own POI, Root or Shaw :)**_

_**Also  
Oh Shaw xD Feelings are hard x]**_


End file.
